HAT 
:ADE 


FRANKLIN  BAIDWIN  WILEY 


^FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THB 


WARE  COLLECTION  OF  BLASCHKA  GLASS  MODELS 
IN  THE  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM 


FRANKLIN    BALDWIN    WILEY 

Author  of  "  The  Harvard  Guide-Book" 


BOSTON 

BRADLEE  WHIDDEN,  PUBLISHER 
1897 


COPYRIGHT 

1897 
BY  FRANKLIN  BALDWIN  WILEY 


NOTE 

THIS  account  of  the  Ware  collection  of  Blaschka 
glass  flowers  at  Harvard  appeared  originally 
in  the  Boston  Transcript.  It  was  prepared 
for  that  newspaper  in  compliance  with  re- 
quests from  several  correspondents  for  infor- 
mation concerning  this  unique  collection. 
The  issue  containing  the  account  has  long 
been  out  of  print,  but  the  inquiries  for  the 
article  which  are  still  made  from  time  to 
time  encourage  the  belief  that  a  reprint  of  it 
may  not  be  unwelcome.  It  has  therefore 
been  carefully  revised  and  considerably  ex- 
tended, and  is  now  republished  in  a  more 
convenient  and  permanent  form. 

F.  B.  W. 


As  frail  as  the  buds  that  first 

In  the  bosom  of  Spring  are  nursed, 

As  fair  as  the  blossoms  gay 

In  the  coronal  of  May, 

As  bright  as  the  flowers  that  swoon 

In  the  sultry  breath  of  June 

Are  these  sprays  that  seem  to  have  grown 

In  the  suns  of  a  native  zone  ; 

Glowing  with  tints  as  rare 

As  their  living  sisters  share ; 

As  real  to  observing  eyes, 

Here  each  bloom  in  its  beauty  lies, 

Once  hid  in  the  ductile  glass, 

Now  out  of  the  plastic  mass 

By  the  deft  artificers  made 

Flowers  that  never  fade. 

The  blossoms  that  genius  brought 

To  the  studio  ere  it  wrought, 

By  the  magic  of  its  art, 

Each  exquisite  counterpart, 

In  the  dust  of  yesterday 

Have  withered  and  crumbled  away ; 

And  the  master  whom  all  deplore 

Will  re-enter  nevermore 


The  home  at  Hosterwitz, 
Where  a  lonely  artist  sits ; 
But  by  secrets  none  may  guess, 
Lo  !  in  lasting  loveliness, 
Here,  here  are  blooming  still 
The  flowers  he  formed  at  will ; 
And  a  filial  love  still  lays 
On  his  bier  these  fadeless  bays. 

The  varying  seasons  bring 
No  change  to  this  blossoming : 
The  spring  never  ends  for  these 
Enduring  anemones ; 
The  summer's  reign  never  closes 
For  these  perennial  roses  ; 
The  autumn's  horn  never  holds 
Even  one  of  these  marigolds; 
And  the  winter  never  comes 
To  these  bright  chrysanthemums ; 
For  alike  through  the  frost  and  heat, 
Spring  showers  and  winter  sleet, 
Bloom  these  lilies  and  violets, 
Blue  flags  that  no  wild  bee  frets, 
Red  mallows,  purple  azaleas, 
Columbines,  cowslips,  and  dahlias, 
In  natural  pomp  arrayed, 
Flowers  that  never  fade. 


FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE 


Flowers  of  everlasting  blow. 

KlLMENV. 

Ye  bright  Mosaics  !  that  with  storied  beauty 
The  floor  of  Nature's  temple  tessellate. 

HYMN  TO  THE  FLOWERS. 

Learn,  O  student,  the  true  wisdom. 

See  yon  bush  aflame  with  roses, 

Like  the  burning  bush  of  Moses. 

Listen,  and  thou  shalt  hear, 

If  thy  soul  be  not  deaf, 
How  from  out  it,  soft  and  clear. 
Speaks  to  thee  the  Lord  Almighty. 

HAFIZ. 


FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE 


I 

SINCE  flowers  were  first  created  many 
futile  attempts  have  been  made  to  seize 
and  fix  the  fugitive  grace  and  loveliness  of 
these  fairest  and  frailest  of  all  growing 
things.  Their  semblance  has  been  carved 
in  marble  and  painted  on  canvas  and 
worked  in  wax  and  formed  out  of  rubber 
and  silk,  and  even  out  of  paper.  But  the 
imitations  in  marble  are  cold  and  colorless, 
and  those  on  canvas  too  often  tame  and  con- 
ventional, while  those  in  wax  and  silk  and 
rubber  and  paper  lose  their  brightness  and 
freshness  almost  as  soon  as  the  beautiful 
blossoms  from  which  they  are  copied  lose 
theirs. 

It  remained  for  an  artist  of  Bohemia, 
living  in  Germany,  and  his  son,  both  mar- 
vellously deft  and  cunning  workers  in  glass, 
to  surmount  all  obstacles,  and  to  solve  the 
problem  of  reproducing  flowers  not  alone 
as  they  actually  appear  in  color  and  form 


12    FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE 

and  structure,  but  to  imitate  their  very 
texture,  so  far  as  the  eye  is  concerned,  and 
to  do  all  this  in  such  a  way  that 

"  the  hour 
Of  splendor  in  the  grass,  of  glory  in  the  flower," 

is  not  simply  brought  back  for  a  brief 
season,  but  is  permanently  fixed  beyond 
the  power  of  chance  and  change. 


II 

HARVARD  UNIVERSITY  is  the  fortunate 
possessor  of  the  only  collection  of  these 
exquisite  creations  now  in  existence.  The 
larger  part  of  it  is  housed  in  a  large, 
well-lighted  room  on  the  third  floor  of  the 
University  Museum  at  Cambridge,  reached 
by  way  of  the  Oxford-street  entrance,  and 
overlooking  the  pleasant  green  quadrangle 
that  lies  between  the  museum  building  and 
Divinity  Hall.  A  number  of  the  models, 
however,  are  shown  in  the  hallway  and  in 
an  adjoining  room  on  the  same  floor.  On 
each  of  the  two  doors  leading  into  the 
main  exhibition  room  is  painted  the  inscrip- 
tion :  — 

The 
Ware  Collection 

of 

Blaschka 
Glass  Models 

of 
Flowers. 

Within  the  room  a  placard  on  the  north 
wall  gives  the  following  information :  — 


14          FLOWERS   THAT   NEVER   FADE 

These  Glass  Models 

Illustrating  Vegetable  Structure 

Are  Part  of  a  Collection  (as  yet  Unarranged) 

Presented  to  Harvard  University 

By 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  C.  Ware  and  Miss  Mary  L.  Ware 

in  Memory  of 
the  Late  Dr.  Charles  E.  Ware  (Class  of  1834) 

The  Models  Are  the  Work  of 

Leopold  and  Rudolph  Blaschka 

of  Germany. 

On  the  west  wall  there  is  a  bronze  tablet, 
which  is  thus  inscribed  :  — 

MDCCCXIV  MDCCCLXXXVII 

IN    MEMORIAM 
CAROLI   ELIOT   WARE 

MEDICI 

HVIVS   VNIVERSITATIS   ALVMNI 
HASCE   IMAGINES 

DONAVERVNT 

CONIVX   ET   FILIA   SVPERSTITES 

RVRA   FLORES   AMICOS    EX   ANIMO   COLVIT 

VALDEQVE  DILEXIT  l 

In  the  forty  and  more  plate-glass  cases 
containing  the  collection  there  are  now 

l  "  1814-1887.  In  memory  of  Dr.  Charles  Eliot 
Ware,  a  graduate  of  this  University,  these  models 
have  been  given  by  his  wife  and  daughter,  who  sur- 
vive him.  "He  cherished  and  loved  with  all  his  heart 
the  country  and  flowers  and  his  friends." 


FLOWERS   THAT   NEVER   FADE  15 

displayed  about  eight  hundred  of  the  large 
models,  representing  sprays  and  clusters  of 
flowers,  and  more  than  two  thousand  of  the 
magnified  parts,  showing  in  detail  the  struc- 
ture of  the  different  plants.  From  a  scien- 
tific point  of  view  the  magnified  details 
may  perhaps  seem  at  first  sight  to  be  the 
most  interesting ;  but  a  close  examination 
shows  that  in  scientific  as  well  as  in  aes- 
thetic value  they  cannot  vie  with  the  large 
models. 

These  wonderful  productions  are  at  once 
so  artistic  and  so  accurate  that  the  very 
flowers  themselves  seem  to  be  lying  before 
us.  Here  are  dahlias,  rhododendrons,  sun- 
flowers, begonias,  and  marigolds  apparently 
just  plucked  in  the  garden,  and  butter- 
cups, cowslips,  blue  gentians,  ground  laurel, 
swamp-pinks,  and  trailing  arbutus  to  all 
appearances  fresh  from  the  fields.  This 
trumpet  creeper,  with  its  clustering  blos- 
soms of  brick  red  and  pale  orange,  must 
have  been  recently  cut  from  the  vine  grow- 
ing about  some  one's  front  porch,  and 
these  large-flowered  dog's-tooth  violets,  pur- 
ple azaleas,  and  pretty  cone-flowers,  with 
their  velvety  brown  centres  and  ray-like 
petals  of  deep  yellow,  cannot  have  been 
gathered  very  long. 

Equally  remarkable  are  the  glowing  bril- 
liancy of  the  tints  that  range  from  the  deli- 


1 6    FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE 

cate  azure  of  the  blue-tipped  blossoms  of 
the  ivy  morning  glory  to  the  fiery  splendor 
of  the  scarlet  clematis,  the  red  mallows,  and 
the  cardinal  flowers,  and  the  consummate 
skill  of  the  workmanship  which  finds  it  as 
easy  to  reproduce,  for  instance,  the  feathery 
white  bloom  of  the  fringe-tree  as  the  large, 
thick,  spongy  leaves  of  the  milk-weed. 

Still  more  marvellous  is  the  absolute 
accuracy  with  which  every  natural  detail 
has  been  reproduced.  Not  only  is  it  im- 
possible to  detect  any  inaccuracies  with  the 
naked  eye,  but  even  a  microscopic  exami- 
nation fails  to  reveal  any.  Such  an  exami- 
nation has  been  made  by  a  skilled  botanist 
for  his  own  satisfaction.1  He  was  surprised 
and  delighted  to  find  nature  so  accurately 
followed  in  all  those  details  that  could  be 
seen  by  the  unaided  eye ;  but  he  was  per- 
suaded that  the  lens  must  surely  reveal 
inaccuracies  which  were  otherwise  invisi- 
ble. It  seemed  to  him  impossible  that  the 
artists  could  have  produced  a  plant,  covered 
perhaps  with  minute  flowers,  with  such  ex- 
actness that  any  flower,  taken  at  random, 
should  follow  the  specific  character  of  the 
particular  species  as  if  the  natural  plant 

1  See  the  article  on  the  Ware  Collection  in  the 
Botanical  Gazette  for  April.  1894.  The  text  of  the 
above  paragraph,  as  well  as  of  the  one  that  follows  it, 
is  substantially  quoted  from  that  excellent  paper. 


FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE    17 

were  before  him,  so  that  he  should  find  the 
right  number  of  stamens  in  every  flower, 
the  proper  degree  of  pubescence  on  the 
stem,  and  such  other  characteristics  as  only 
a  microscopic  examination  would  reveal. 
He  compared  each  plant  with  his  own 
herbarium  specimens,  relying  more  on  the 
natural  plant  than  on  the  printed  characters. 
He  found  that  each  flower  had  its  separate 
character,  like  nature,  and  that  the  indica- 
tions that  one  flower  was  older  than  another 
were  shown,  from  the  young  buds  through 
the  partly  expanded  blossoms  to  the  fully 
opened  flowers,  as  in  the  living  plants. 

"  Sixteen  species  I  examined  by  careful 
comparison,"  he  tells  us,  "besides  making  a 
more  general  observation  of  a  large  num- 
ber. I  sought  faithfully  to  find  some  error, 
something  systematically  wrong.  A  fair 
criticism  should  disclose  whatever  faults 
may  exist,  but  I  failed  to  find  such  faults. 
In  a  specimen  cluster  from  the  angelica- 
tree,  with  its  flowers  so  small  that  their 
structure  can  be  seen  only  with  a  lens,  while 
many  of  its  buds  are  so  minute  as  to  be  in- 
distinguishable to  the  naked  eye,  I  counted 
of  buds,  blossoms,  and  developing  fruit, 
from  twenty-five  hundred  to  three  thousand. 
And  yet  every  flower  has  its  five  petals,  and 
five  alternating  stamens  with  long  filaments. 
I  sought  to  find  on  the  under  part  of  the 


1 8    FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE 

cluster  some  flowers  perhaps  less  carefully 
done,  as  being  practically  out  of  sight ;  but 
they  were  all  equal  in  their  perfection. 
Were  every  specimen  in  the  collection  to 
be  inverted,  the  same  accurate  work  would 
be  seen." 

While  this  wonderful  exactitude  of  detail 
and  perfection  of  finish  are  also  observable 
in  the  magnified  parts,  they  do  not  appear  to 
be  so  extraordinary  in  those  because  most 
of  them  are  from  ten  to  a  thousand  times 
larger  than  the  natural  size,  and  therefore 
less  dexterity  is  required  in  their  manipula- 
tion. But  in  them  also  the  close  observer 
will  find  that  similar  parts,  which  to  the 
casual  glance  seem  to  be  the  same  in  every 
respect,  are  yet  as  unlike  as  the  complete 
flowers.  Each  one  has  its  own  special  char- 
acteristics, just  as  in  the  large  model  of 
the  common  milk-weed,  for  instance,  no 
two  of  the  leaves  are  alike,  but  each  one 
shows  the  same  variation  that  may  be  ob- 
served in  nature.  Such  fidelity  to  life  in 
the  details,  as  well  as  in  the  forms  and  col- 
ors of  the  flowers,  is  amazing.  Who  are 
the  men,  one  naturally  asks,  whose  art  can 
compass  such  astonishing  and  delightful 
results?  Where  do  they  live?  What  is 
their  method  of  work? 


Ill 

As  one  might  have  expected,  they  are 
from  Bohemia,  a  country  which  has  long 
been  celebrated  for  the  rare  excellence  and 
high  artistic  merit  of  its  glass  work.  Su- 
perior skill  in  this  pursuit  is  hereditary  in 
the  family  of  the  Blaschkas.  They  lived 
in  Venice  when  its  far-famed  glass-making 
was  a  national  art,  and  all  who  practised  it 
were  held,  so  it  is  generally  claimed,  to  be- 
long to  the  nobility.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century  they  removed  from 
Venice  to  Bohemia,  into  which  country,  ac- 
cording to  their  account,  they  introduced 
the  artistic  manufacture  of  glass.  They 
possessed  certain  technical  secrets,  some 
of  which,  such  as  the  use  of  color,  the  prep- 
aration of  the  more  fusible  kinds  of  glass, 
and  a  peculiar  method  of  annealing,  are 
still  utilized  in  their  work. 

One  of  the  more  noted  of  their  number 
was  Joseph  Blaschka,  a  skilful  artificer  in 
gold  and  silver  and  glass,  and  Leopold 
Blaschka  was  his  son.  Born  on  May  27, 
1822,  at  Aicha,  a  village  of  northern  Bo- 
hemia, situated  about  twenty  miles  from 


20    FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE 

Buntzlau,  young  Leopold  early  showed  ar- 
tistic tastes.  After  he  had  studied  in  the 
common  school  of  his  native  town,  Eisner 
the  painter,  who  lived  in  his  father's  house 
for  a  time,  gave  him  lessons  in  painting 
and  advised  him  to  devote  himself  to  that 
art.  His  grandfather  was  also  anxious  that 
he  should  do  so.  But  his  father  held  other 
views  about  his  life-work,  and  in  deference 
to  his  parent's  wishes,  Leopold  went  to  a 
goldsmith's  near  Turnau,  one  of  the  old 
walled  towns  of  Bohemia,  on  the  river  Iser, 
a  few  miles  distant  from  his  birthplace, 
where  he  served  an  apprenticeship.  He 
then  returned  home,  and  while  following 
the  occupation  of  making  fancy  articles  in 
glass  and  the  precious  metals  for  export  by 
various  business  houses,  spent  his  leisure 
time  in  the  study  of  natural  history.  When 
about  thirty-one  years  old,  in  1853,  the 
state  of  his  health  and  the  interests  of  his 
business  led  him  to  undertake  a  voyage  to 
this  continent  on  a  sailing  vessel.  Upon 
this  journey  he  spent  much  of  his  leisure 
time  in  the  study  of  marine  invertebrates, 
and  made  many  drawings  of  them  during  a 
calm  at  sea. 

After  his  return  to  Europe  in  1854,  he 
began  the  manufacture  of  specimens  of 
these  sea-animals  in  glass,  and  produced 
the  first  of  the  glass  models  of  flowering 


FLOWERS   THAT   NEVER  FADE  21 

plants.  These  were  seen  by  the  botanist, 
Prince  Camille  de  Rohan,  of  Prague,  who 
was  residing  at  Sichrow,  near  Aicha.  He 
was  so  pleased  and  impressed  with  their 
extraordinary  beauty  and  fidelity  to  nature 
that  he  gave  his  gardener  orders  to  supply 
Blaschka  with  whatever  plants  he  might 
need  for  the  prosecution  of  his  studies. 
Even  the  rarest  orchids  were  to  be  placed 
at  his  disposal. 

He  was  thus  enabled  by  1862  to  com- 
plete a  collection  of  models  in  glass  of 
about  sixty  species  of  these  valuable  ex- 
otics. After  being  exhibited  during  the 
same  year  in  the  palace  of  Prince  de  Ro- 
han at  Prague,  and  during  1863  in  the 
Botanic  Garden  at  Dresden,  the  collection 
was  sold  to  Professor  Morren  of  Liege,  and 
finally  found  a  resting-place  in  the  Natural 
History  Museum  in  that  city,  where  it  was 
unfortunately  lost  in  the  fire  which  de- 
stroyed that  building  in  1863. 

The  fate  of  these  models  and  various 
annoying  circumstances  connected  with  an- 
other similar  collection  gave  Blaschka  such 
a  distaste  for  this  branch  of  his  work  that 
he  ceased  the  production  of  glass  models  of 
flowers,  and  turned  his  undivided  attention 
to  the  preparation  of  a  collection  of  marine 
invertebrates,  consisting  of  models  of  sea- 
anemones  and  similar  forms  of  ocean  life. 


22     FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE 

Of  this  first  set,  the  larger  part  is  still  to  be 
seen  in  the  Natural  History  Museum  at 
Dresden.  From  1870,  when  he  took  his 
only  son,  Rudolph,  into  partnership,  he 
began  to  increase  his  production  of  the 
models  of  marine  invertebrates  that  are 
now  among  the  most  interesting  treasures 
in  all  the  natural  history  museums  through- 
out the  world,  including  the  Museum  of 
Comparative  Zoology  at  Harvard.  For  the 
next  sixteen  years  the  two  artists  gave 
their  time  exclusively  to  the  pursuit  of  this 
branch  of  their  life-work. 


-IV 

IT  was  not  until  1886  that,  at  the  solicita- 
tion of  Professor  George  Lincoln  Goodale, 
the  director  of  the  Botanic  Garden  of  Har- 
vard University,  they  consented  to  resume 
the  modelling  of  flowering  plants  in  glass ; 
and  then  it  was  only  with  the  greatest  dif- 
ficulty that  he  secured  their  services,  for  at 
that  time  their  entire  attention  was  still 

fiven  to  the  satisfactory  and  profitable  pro- 
uction  of  their  models  of  marine  animals. 
Professor  Goodale  has  himself  given  an 
account  of  this  first  momentous  interview 
with  the  artists.1  He  had  long  before  then 
been  considering  in  what  material  plants 
and  their  magnified  parts  could  be  ren- 
dered permanent  without  being  either  con- 
ventionalized or  exaggerated. 

"  This  important  question,"  he  says, 
"was  happily  answered  one  day,  when, 
with  this  burden  on  my  mind,  I  examined 

1  This  account  and  many  other  interesting  details 
are  contained  in  the  article  on  "  The  Blaschka  Glass 
Flower  Collection  "  in  the  Harvard  Graduates'  Mag- 
azine for  July,  1893. 


24    FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE 

for  the  hundredth  time  the  synoptic  col- 
lection in  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zool- 
ogy. The  Blaschka  glass  models  of  marine 
invertebrates  suggested  a  possible  solution 
of  the  difficulty.  The  next  step  demanded 
was  a  journey  in  1885  to  the  studio  of  the 
Blaschkas,  then  at  Dresden.  It  was  with 
difficulty  that  these  artists  were  induced 
even  to  listen  to  my  proposition,  much  less 
to  entertain  it  favorably.  It  seemed  to  me 
that  the  voyage  and  the  interview  would 
prove  fruitless.  The  Blaschkas  declared 
that  they  were  busy  from  morning  till  night, 
every  day  in  the  week,  with  the  study  and 
construction  of  models  of  animals,  and  that 
no  inducement  could  lead  them  to  abandon 
the  known  for  the  unknown,  and  undertake 
the  construction  of  flowers.  My  knowledge 
of  German  was  imperfect,  and  I  succeeded 
in  not  understanding  this  refusal.  On  a 
shelf  in  the  reception  room  there  stood  a 
vase  of  brilliant  orchids,  indicating  that  the 
artists  were  very  fond  of  flowers,  and  this 
opened  the  way  for  my  last  line  of  attack. 
You  can  imagine  my  surprise  when  I  found 
that  the  orchids  before  me  were  of  glass, 
and  that  they  had  stood  uninjured,  though 
without  protection,  in  an  open  room  since 
1862.  A  few  questions  and  a  little  diplo- 
macy soon  changed  the  face  of  the  matter. 
What  the  artists  had  done  once  they  could 


FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE     25 

do  again.  Thus  the  principal  difficulties 
were  overcome." 

All  minor  objections  were  eventually  set 
aside,  and  a  satisfactory  agreement  was  at 
last  reached  on  the  Blaschkas'  own  terms. 
This  result  was  in  no  small  degree  due  to 
the  strong  desire  of  the  elder  artist  to  give 
his  son  every  opportunity  to  extend  his  re- 
searches in  botany,  a  study  in  which  he 
had  already  made  considerable  progress  and 
for  which  he  showed  a  special  fitness,  and 
also  because  of  the  kindly  sentiment  that 
Leopold  Blaschka  had  felt  for  America  ever 
since  his  visit  to  this  continent  in  1853. 

The  artists  began  their  work  for  Pro- 
fessor Goodale  in  1886,  and  they  sent  on 
the  case  containing  the  first  shipment  of 
specimens  in  the  autumn  of  1887.  When 
it  arrived  in  Cambridge,  Professor  Good- 
ale  found  that  the  fragile  contents  had  been 
badly  broken  by  the  carelessness  of  the  in- 
spectors in  the  custom  house  at  New  York. 
They  had  opened  the  case  of  models  and 
unwrapped  them  in  order  to  find  out  whether 
there  was  any  duty  to  be  assessed  upon 
them,  and  had  then  nailed  the  case  up  again 
and  forwarded  it  to  its  destination  without 
troubling  themselves  about  the  condition 
in  which  its  contents  would  arrive  there. 
The  result  was  that  Professor  Goodale, 
to  use  his  own  ironical  expression,  "had 


26          FLOWERS    THAT   NEVER   FADE 

the  pleasure  of  receiving  a  box  of  broken 
glass." 

Even  the  fragments,  however,  served  to 
indicate  the  high  quality  and  artistic  excel- 
lence of  the  work  accomplished  by  the 
Blaschkas.  Imperfect  as  the  specimens 
were,  they  attracted  great  attention,  and 
gave  promise  of  surprising  results.  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  C.  Ware  and  her  daughter,  Miss 
Mary  L.  Ware,  who  had  already  been  lib- 
eral benefactors  of  the  botanical  depart- 
ment of  Harvard,  authorized  Professor 
Goodale  to  make  a  provisional  contract 
with  the  Blaschkas  for  the  production  of  a 
certain  number  of  the  models.  These  were 
received  in  excellent  order,  after  being  care- 
fully passed  by  the  custom-house  officials, 
and  gave  complete  satisfaction.  A  new 
agreement  was  then  signed,  and  it  was  de- 
cided that  the  collection  should  form  a 
memorial  to  Dr.  Ware. 

Later  on,  this  agreement  was  modified 
several  times  in  order  to  secure  a  larger 
number  and  a  wider  range  of  models,  and 
finally,  in  1890,  a  contract  was  executed 
at  the  consular  office  in  Dresden  by  the 
terms  of  which  the  artists  agreed  to  give 
their  entire  time  to  the  Museum  of  Har- 
vard University  for  the  term  of  ten  years, 
and  to  furnish  an  average  of  one  hundred 
models  a  year, 


THIS  wonderful  average  of  production 
was  maintained  until  the  death  of  the  elder 
Blaschka,  on  July  3,  1895.  The  two  artists 
worked  as  one  man,  especially  in  the  use  of 
the  secret  parts  of  their  art.  Neither  took 
any  important  step  without  first  consulting 
the  other,  and  sometimes  both  worked  on 
one  specimen,  one  making  the  stem,  for 
instance,  and  the  other  the  leaves  and 
flowers.  Their  devotion  to  their  art  was 
untiring,  and  their  rapidity  of  execution 
astounding  even  to  those  most  familiar 
with  glass-making,  while  to  those  who  were 
unversed  in  the  process  it  seemed  almost 
magical. 

Certain  of  their  methods  of  procedure 
and  processes  of  manipulation  were  of 
course  kept  secret,  even  when  they  per- 
mitted Professor  Goodale  to  see  them  at 
their  work,  assuring  him  that  he  was  the 
only  one  who  had  ever  been  allowed  to 
watch  them  when  they  were  busy  in  their 
studio.  They  pointed  out  to  him  that  their 
glass-making  was  by  no  means  glass-bio  wing. 
After  the  glass  had  been  made  plastic  by 


28          FLOWERS    THAT   NEVER   FADE 

heat,  it  was  manipulated  under  the  simplest 
conditions  and  with  the  least  complicated 
appliances.  The  secrets  which  Professor 
Goodale  was  not  allowed  to  share  were 
concerned  chiefly  with  the  preparation  of 
the  more  fusible  kinds  of  glass,  the  means 
of  coloring  it,  the  use  of  cements,  and  the 
methods  of  annealing.  Professor  Goodale 
was  told  that  part  of  the  color  was  imparted 
to  the  glass  while  fused,  part  added  while 
the  glass  was  cooling, '  and  part  placed  on 
afterward.  The  artists  also  showed  him 
that  all  the  colors  were  permanent,  and 
that  they  were  not  affected  by  light. 

Twice  during  this  period  the  younger 
Blaschka  applied  for  permission  to  suspend 
his  work  and  visit  America  for  study.  The 
first  time  was  toward  the  end  of  1891,  when 
he  asked  for  a  leave  of  absence  of  six 
months.  As  soon  as  he  arrived  in  Cam- 
bridge, in  1892,  he  began  to  study  the  plants 
in  the  Botanic  Garden,  the  Arnold  Arbo- 
retum, and  the  Bussey  Institution.  When 
the  spring  opened  he  went  to  Jamaica,  and 
later  on  to  California  for  the  purpose  of 
collecting  material.  On  these  trips  he  se- 
cured a  number  of  specimens,  and  made 
analyses  and  over  two  hundred  drawings 
in  color  of  the  more  interesting  species. 
Returning  to  Cambridge,  he  spent  a  short 
time  there  in  further  study  and  in  repairing 


FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE    29 

broken  models,   and  then  went   back  to 
Germany. 

His  second  journey  to  this  country  was 
made  in  1895;  and  he  was  pursuing  his 
studies  of  the  vegetation  of  the  South  when 
his  work  was  rudely  interrupted  by  the  sad 
news  of  his  father's  death,  and  he  sailed  at 
once  for  Germany.  The  elder  Blaschka 
was  in  his  seventy-fourth  year  when  he 
died,  and  the  illness  that  terminated  thus 
fatally  lasted  only  a  few  days. 


VI 

ALL  the  work  of  Leopold  Blaschka  and 
his  son  was  carried  on  at  their  residence  in 
the  little  town  of  Hosterwitz,  a  few  miles 
above  Dresden  on  the  Elbe,  not  so  very 
far  away  from  the  old  home  at  Aicha  in 
Bohemia.  The  house  is  a  large  one.  built 
of  brick  and  wood  in  the  composite  style 
common  in  German  country  places.  It  was 
once  owned  by  a  government  official,  and 
contains  a  number  of  rooms,  of  which  one 
is  used  as  a  music-room  and  another  as 
an  exhibition  hall,  while  two  are  used  as 
studios.  This  residence  is  surrounded  by 
a  good-sized  American  garden,  supplied 
by  Professor  Goodale  with  the  more  com- 
mon native  plants  of  temperate  North 
America.  From  among  these  plants  come 
the  specimens  that  are  studied  in  the 
construction  of  the  glass  models.  Less 
than  a  mile  away  to  the  eastward  is  the 
Royal  Garden  at  Pilnitz,  which  is  the  sum- 
mer home  of  the  Court  of  Saxony,  and 
from  which  the  Blaschkas  were  freely  pro- 


FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE    3! 

vided  with  plants  from  Central  and  South 
America. 

In  reproducing  these  and  other  plants  in 
glass  the  artists  worked  in  their  studio  at  a 
large  table,  supplied  with  the  most  simple 
instruments.  The  products  of  their  skill 
were  displayed  twice  a  year  in  their  exhibi- 
tion hall.  Just  before  the  specimens  made 
in  the  previous  six  months  were  packed  for 
transportation  to  this  country,  they  were 
arranged  in  the  hall,  invitations  were  sent 
far  and  wide,  and  a  large  number  of  peo- 
ple were  thus  given  the  first  view  of  the 
exquisite  models  in  the  home  of  their 
makers. 

A  photograph  of  the  house,  with  the  two 
artists  in  the  foreground,  may  be  seen  in 
the  glass  case  in  the  gallery  of  the  main 
exhibition  room,  placed  against  the  north 
wall  nearest  to  the  windows.  The  picture 
shows  the  dwelling  to  be  a  substantial,  two 
and  one-half  story  structure,  with  a  pitch 
roof  and  dormer  windows,  standing  with  a 
comfortable,  home-like  air  amidst  trees  and 
shrubbery.  In  the  same  case  are  two  pho- 
tographs of  Leopold  Blaschka,  and  one  of 
Rudolph  Blaschka.  Under  those  of  the 
elder  artist  is  written,  "  Leopold  Blaschka, 
born  May  27, 1822;  died  July  3,  1895.  The 
founder  of  the  art  of  modelling  speci- 
mens in  glass ;  "  and  under  that  of  the  son, 


32    FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE 

"Rudolf  Blaschka,1  the  sole  possessor  of 
the  Blaschka  processes  of  modelling  in  col- 
ored glass  to  illustrate  Natural  History. 
Born  in  Bohmisch-Aicha,  June  17,  1857." 

Since  the  death  of  the  elder  Blaschka 
his  son  has  devoted  all  his  time  to  the  com- 
pletion of  the  collection.  The  models  pre- 
pared by  the  two  artists  together  shortly 
before  the  father  died  were  considered 
superior  even  to  the  best  that  they  had 
previously  sent.  But  Professor  Goodale 
testifies  that  the  last  productions,  made  by 
the  son  alone,  "  exhibit  the  same  delicacy  of 
texture  and  fidelity  throughout  which  has 
characterized  all  of  the  specimens  that  have 
preceded  them."  The  younger  Blaschka 
regards  the  collection  as  a  memorial  to  his 
father  as  well  as  to  Dr.  Ware.  For  this 
reason,  and  also  because,  as  the  artist  truly 
says,  it  would  be  impossible  to  impart  to 
any  assistant  the  skill  necessary  to  protect 
the  process  from  turning  out  occasional 
failures,  he  has  resolutely  declined  to  allow 
others  to  share  the  traditional  secrets  of 
his  marvellous  technique,  and,  with  a  filial 

1  The  given  name  of  the  younger  Blaschka  is 
spelled  indifferently  either  "  Rudolph  "  or  "  Rudolf  " 
both  by  himself  and  by  others.  In  the  inscription 
under  his  picture  it  is  written  as  printed,  "  Rudolf." 
Everywhere  else  in  this  account  the  spelling  of 
"  Rudolph  "  has  been  followed. 


FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE     33 

devotion  that  every  one  must  sympathize 
with  and  honor,  insists  upon  completing 
the  memorial  with  his  own  hand  alone.  As 
he  is  now  only  in  his  forty-first  year  and 
comes  of  a  long-lived  ancestry,  his  laudable 
ambition  seems  likely  to  be  fully  realized, 
especially  as  he  brings  to  its  fulfilment  not 
only  inherited  technical  skill  and  deep  love 
for  his  father's  memory,  but  keen  artistic 
enthusiasm  and  scientific  knowledge  of  a 
high  order. 

Thus  the  Ware  Collection  bids  fair  to  re- 
main forever  unique.  For,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  vase  of  orchids  made  by  the  elder 
Blaschka  for  his  wife,  a  few  fruits  in  the 
Botanical  Museum  at  Dresden,  and  a  single 
spray  of  flowers  made  for  Mrs.  Ware  and 
Miss  Ware,  there  are  no  other  models  ex- 
tant except  those  in  the  memorial  collec- 
tion at  Harvard. 


VII 

SHIPMENTS  of  new  specimens  of  the  glass 
flowers  are  usually  received  in  carefully 
packed  cases  in  February  and  August  of 
each  year.  As  soon  as  these  additions  ar- 
rive, they  are  unpacked  and  placed  with 
the  other  models  in  the  exhibition  room. 
Here  visitors  may  examine  two  interesting 
examples  of  the  extremely  careful  way  in 
which  the  models  are  packed  so  that  they 
shall  run  no  risk  of  being  broken  during 
their  long  journey  from  Hosterwitz  to  Cam- 
bridge by  way  of  Hamburg  and  New  York. 

An  inspection  of  these  specimen  boxes 
shows  that  the  model  is  first  securely  fas- 
tened by  delicate  wires  to  a  piece  of  heavy 
pasteboard,  which  is  then  laid  at  the  bot- 
tom of  a  strong  pasteboard  box  and  held 
firmly  in  place  by  small,  triangular  pieces 
of  cork  glued  in  position.  A  quantity  of 
soft  tissue  paper  is  next  wrapped  round  the 
model  and  laid  over  it,  and  the  box  cover 
is  then  fastened  on.1 

1  For  shipment  the  pasteboard  boxes  are  placed  in 
a  strong  wooden  case,  which  is  embaled  in  straw  and 


FLOWERS   THAT   NEVER   FADE  35 

Of  the  two  examples  of  the  packing  that 
are  exhibited,  one,  containing  a  spray  of 
clematis  with  its  dainty,  green-white  blos- 
soms, has  been  left  almost  exactly  as  it 
was  when  opened,  — "  To  show,"  as  the 
card  beside  it  reads,  "how  the  glass  models 
are  packed  by  the  artists  in  Germany  for 
transportation  to  America."  All  the  loose 
paper  has  been  removed  from  the  other 
box  and  placed  in  a  good-sized  pile  at  its 
head,  thus  allowing  the  visitor  to  see  ex- 
actly how,  "for  transportation,"  to  quote 
from  the  card,  "  the  glass  models  are  packed 
in  thin  crushed  paper,  as  shown  in  this 
specimen  box."  Visitors  who  may  not  be 
inclined  to  express  the  proper  degree  of 
surprise  and  wonder  at  the  remarkable  ex- 
hibit before  them  are  given  a  jog  by  the 
inscription  on  the  card  beside  the  pile  of 
paper  taken  out  of  the  box,  "  All  this  paper 
was  placed  around  this  model." 

At  present  the  Ware  Collection  is  only 
provisionally  arranged  and  labelled ;  but 
each  plant  has  been  put  in  its  proper  posi- 
tion in  the  natural  system.  The  models  in 
the  hallway  show  the  relations  of  plants  to 
their  surroundings ;  the  sprays  in  the  main 

then  enveloped  in  coarse  sacking.  This  and  other 
particulars  may  be  found  in  the  comprehensive  article 
on  "  The  Blaschka  Flower  Models  "  in  the  Popular 
Science  Monthly  for  March,  1897. 


36    FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE 

exhibition  room  show  the  relations  of  plants 
to  each  other;  and  the  specimens  in  the 
economic  room  show  the  relations  of  plants 
to  man.  The  nomenclature  for  the  most 
part  is  conservative,  the  scientific  and  com- 
mon names  and  the  range  being  given, 
and,  when  necessary,  the  fact  of  cultiva- 
tion. The  object  has  been  to  keep  the  col- 
lection symmetrical,  so  that  visitors  may 
gain  from  it  a  synoptic  view.  The  artists 
faithfully  co-operated  in  this  plan  at  every 
step,  in  some  cases  waiving  their  own  pref- 
ences,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  construction 
of  Central  American  orchids,  which  lend 
themselves  most  admirably  to  this  method 
of  representation.  But  this  self-denial  has 
not  been  without  its  compensations,  as  the 
visitor  can  well  understand  when  looking 
at  such  exquisite  creations  as  the  drooping, 
bell-like,  mottled  yellow  blossoms  of  the 
meadow  lily,  or  the  fragile  pink-and-gold 
flowers  of  the  wild  rose,  or  the  many-petaled 
magnificence  of  the  large  creamy  bloom  of 
the  blue-stemmed  cereus. 

Not  the  least  attractive  charm  of  the 
collection  is  its  poetical  suggestiveness. 
One  is  constantly  coming  across  speci- 
mens that  are  reminiscent  of  some  strain 
in  a  familiar  poet.  Here,  for  instance,  is 
Longfellow's 


FLOWERS   THAT   NEVER   FADE          37 

"  Beautiful  lily,  dwelling  by  still  rivers, 
Or  solitary  mere,  .  .  . 

—  Iris,  fair  among  the  fairest, 
Who,  armed  with  golden  rod 
And  winged  with  the  celestial  azure,  bearest 
The  message  of  some  God." 

Here  also  is  the  gentian  of  Bryant  with  its 
"sweet  and  quiet  eye," 

"  Blue  —  blue  —  as  if  the  sky  let  fall 
A  flower  from  its  cerulean  wall." 

There  is  Whittier's  "  trailing  spring  flower 
tinted  like  a  shell,"  the  "  lonely "  arbutus 
that  "  makes  the  sad  earth  happier  for  its 
bloom."  In  this  case  are  clustered  the 
"fair  phantoms  in  the  sun,"  "the  blue- 
bells of  New  England,"  of  which  Thomas 
Bailey  Aldrich  has  so  sweetly  sung;  and 
in  that  case  "  the  orphan  of  summer,"  "  the 
bright  chrysanthemum"  of  Oliver  Wen- 
dell Holmes,  displays  "its  radiant  disks;  " 
while  over  there  the  "  rival  of  the  rose," 
"the  fresh  Rhodora  "  of  Emerson,  is  bloom- 
ing in  fadeless  loveliness  to  convince  us 

"  that  if  eyes  were  made  for  seeing, 
Then  beauty  is  its  own  excuse  for  being." 

Visitors  of  a  more  practical  turn  of  mind, 
to  whom  this  literary  side  of  the  collection 
does  not  appeal,  will  find  much  to  interest 
them  in  the  specimens  shown  in  the  eco- 


38     FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE 

nomic  room  adjoining  that  in  which  most 
of  the  glass  flowers  are  displayed.  The 
models  to  be  found  there,  which  were 
transferred  from  the  main  collection  with 
the  consent  of  Mrs.  Ware  and  Miss 
Ware,  illustrate  with  the  effect  of  reality 
the  exhibits  of  plants  that  yield  useful 
products. 

Here  are  beautiful  models  of  the  flax, 
cotton,  tobacco,  coffee,  and  chocolate  plants, 
the  tea  plant  with  its  dark  green  leaves 
and  pure  white,  golden-chaliced  blossoms, 
and  the  cornstalk  with  its  graceful  tas- 
selled  head  and  ripening  ear  in  its  green 
husk,  from  the  end  of  which  the  slender 
tuft  of  corn  silk  is  hanging.  With  the 
model  of  the  flax  plant  are  shown  fibres 
from  Russia,  Siberia,  Ireland,  Germany, 
and  other  places,  and  samples  of  jute  be- 
longing to  the  linden  family,  and  of  ramie 
from  China  and  India  belonging  to  the 
nettle  family  ;  while  all  kinds  of  rope  and 
hemp  are  displayed,  —  the  manila  from  the 
banana  family,  the  pita  or  agave,  the  pine- 
apple fibre,  of  which  the  most  delicate 
handkerchiefs  have  been  woven,  vegetable 
wool,  and  others.  With  the  glass  specimen 
of  the  cotton  plant  are  to  be  seen  cotton 
balls  and  samples  of  different  grades  of 
cotton  from  our  Southern  States,  and  from 
Peru,  Brazil,  the  Sea  Islands,  Greece,  Egypt, 


FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE    39 

and  elsewhere.  Models  of  the  fruit  of  the 
chocolate  plant,  as  well  as  of  the  plant 
itself,  are  shown,  together  with  samples  of 
the  different  kinds  of  chocolate  and  cocoa 
that  are  made  from  it.  The  pods  containing 
the  beans  are  preserved  in  jars  ;  and  a  note 
states  the  fact  that  the  flowers  and  fruit 
grow  from  the  old  wood,  not  from  the 
young  twigs.  All  kinds  of  tea  and  coffee 
are  shown  with  the  glass  models  of  the 
plants.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  of 
these  exhibits  is  labelled,  "  Roasted  Java 
coffee  from  Brazil ;  "  while  another  reads, 
"  Coffee  beans  made  from  wheat  flour." 

It  is  apparent  that  the  collection  appeals 
with  unexpected  variety  to  many  tastes,  — 
to  the  desire  for  novelty  as  well  as  to  that 
for  mere  sight-seeing;  to  the  delight  in 
beauty  not  less  than  to  the  devotion  to 
science;  to  the  love  for  the  poetical  at 
least  as  much  as  to  the  leaning  toward 
the  practical.  Children  are  open-voiced  in 
their  pleasure  as  they  examine  the  exquisite 
sprays ;  and  older  visitors  derive  pleasure 
not  only  from  the  outspoken  delight  of  the 
young  people,  but  from  the  reminiscences 
of  their  own  childhood  that  come  back  to 
them  as  they  catch  sight  of  the  star-grass 
and  sweet  fern,  and  liverwort  and  harebells, 
and  violets  and  cowslips  and  buttercups  that 
they  used  to  find  in  the  fields,  and  the  Star 


40          FLOWERS   THAT   NEVER   FADE 

of  Bethlehem  and  milk-weed,  and  catalpa 
blossoms  and  Bourcing  Bet,  and  pokeweed 
and  leather-leaf  and  sumach  that  they  used 
to  gather  by  the  roadside  and  arrange  in 
huge  posies  on  their  holiday  rambles. 
Here  are  the  star-like  flowerets  of  the  rue- 
anemone  that  we  searched  for  in  the  woods 
when  we  were  young ;  and  there  are  portu- 
lacca  and  verbena  and  saxifrage  and  bush 
honeysuckle,  and  the  purple  blossoms  of 
the  potato  and  blue  flowers  of  the  common 
pea  to  remind  us  of  the  old-fashioned  gar- 
dens where  we  once  wandered  on  early 
summer  mornings  in  bygone  years,  while 
the  bright  sun  drank  up  the  dew,  and  the 
homely  scent  of  the  box  that  bordered  the 
paths  stole  by  us  in  tantalizing  whiffs  on 
the  fresh,  exhilarating  air ;  while  even  these 
nasturtiums  and  begonias  and  pimpernels 
and  oxalis  and  azalea  recall  to  us  the  sunny, 
winter  window-gardens,  always  in  full  bloom, 
that  used  to  be  tended  with  such  loving, 
anxious  care. 

This  fascinating  and  unmatchable  col- 
lection was  formally  presented  to  Harvard, 
on  April  17,  1893,  by  Professor  Goodale, 
speaking  for  Mrs.  Ware  and  Miss  Ware, 
and  was  accepted  by  President  Eliot  for 
the  University.  The  plan  as  a  whole  in- 
cludes the  illustration  of  all  the  more  im- 
portant types  of  American  phaenogamia,  so 


FLOWERS  THAT  NEVER  FADE    4! 

that,  when  completed,  $ie  collection  will  be 
an  exhaustive  reproduction  in  enduring  form 
of  the  most  noteworthy  flowering  plants 
and  floral  structures  of  North,  Central,  and 
South  America. 


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UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


B    000  009  665     1 


